11 January 2021

Fool


Late on Friday afternoon. I was in the middle of preparing a lovely beef stew with green lentils and dumplings. The phone rang. It was Shirley.

She said that if I could zoom down to her health centre in the next ten minutes I would be allowed to receive my first anti-COVID vaccination. They had some unused vaccine left. I dithered for a moment and then declined. After all, I am enrolled at a different surgery and there was no guarantee that I would get the second inoculation in a few weeks' time. However, mostly I was thinking about my beef stew.

This may have been the most foolish and possibly most tragic decision of my life. I could have had the jab but I turned my back on it. What if I now contract the virus? What if I die? It could happen and I could have saved myself by grasping the vaccination offer with both hands.

On Saturday there was the possibility of a second chance but on that day the unused vaccine went to medical practitioners who were called in from their Sheffield homes - and quite right too. There was no vaccine left over for the spouses of health centre staff.

It is still very possible that by the end of this week I will have been vaccinated  - nonetheless I reflect upon that old saying - "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush". I wish I had remembered it when I was rolling dumplings in my floury palms on Friday afternoon.

What a bloody fool!

40 comments:

  1. You have got to be kidding me!!! Why would you do that? Did you leave your common sense in the boot of. Clint with your boots??

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    1. Wasn't there a song - "What Kind of Fool Am I?" ? Can't remember who sang it because I am a fool.

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  2. I wish I could say I've never made such an important decision based on illogical thinking but of course I have. We are humans. Forgive yourself.

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    1. I am slapping myself with a holly branch. Ouch! OUUUUCH!

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  3. It's just one little prick.

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  4. Anonymous9:46 pm

    I immediately thought of you getting your second jap too. Trust yourself that you made the right decision.

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    1. Second jap? I thought that World War II was over Andrew!

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  5. Well, no sense fussing at yourself now. What is done is done. I am surprised your wife did not drag you in by your ear though.

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  6. Ease off! The concern about getting the second dose in three weeks is valid. This shot might have been a one time deal.
    Dumplings sound good. Have you always been the cook in the house?

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    1. I have always loved cooking meals. Shirley is the baker in our house though. I guess I cook 99% of our meals.

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  7. Sometimes priorities get skewed and fool is a strong word

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    1. But it will seem like the very best word if COVID-19 tracks me down.

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  8. Rolling dumplings in your floury hands: I'm green-lentil with envy.
    A dumpling in the hand is worth two in the ... ready-made meals section of Waitrose.

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    1. Dumpling is a lovely word isn't it John? Like the child of a dump!

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  9. Actually, I consider it an intelligent decision, for all the reasons you cited.

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    1. Another instinctive point at the time is that I detest queue jumping of any description.

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  10. First it looked like hard decision but on second thoughts...no. You should have stopped and gone for the shot.

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    Replies
    1. Hindsight is a wonderful thing isn't it Red?

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  11. A noble decision. What ifs are a foolish way of cluttering up one's life!

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    1. Looking back, it does not seem noble.

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  12. Even the first jab provides protection, the second one just boosts it. They are even studying the whether there are benefit if two jabs are different vaccine types. Never pass up the opportunity if it comes your way, especially with disease raging out of control.

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    1. I will remember that next time Tigger.

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  13. I am with Allison there, and also very much with what you say about detesting queue jumping. As long as there are health staff who have not yet had the vaccine, they should be first in line when such a chance occurs.

    Over here, it will be probably late spring or early summer before the likes of me will get vaccined, and I am perfectly fine with that. My personal contacts are now mostly limited to visits to the supermarket or the occasional train trip, where everyone is wearing a mask and keeping a reasonable distance. Of course it could still happen - there is no guarantee, unless I lock myself inside my flat, and even then a delivery person could spread the virus. I just (maybe naively) trust that I will come out of all this unharmed.

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    1. God is watching over you Meike. You will be saved.

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  14. You have, in the past, written much about the threat of the virus YP, and the effect it has on us all, yet you've turned down the chance to protect yourself. Time will tell if you've made the right decision. There will be a great many people out there who will envy you your chance, and berate you for your decision to refuse it.
    Like many people here, in spite of being in the high risk age group, I'll be waiting
    for some months before it's my turn for the vaccine. Just hope I manage to stay healthy.

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    1. I make no excuses for myself CG. It was indeed stupid.

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  15. Norman Wisdom sang "What kind of a fool am I" YP.

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    Replies
    1. I'm a Grade A fool - that's what kind.

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  16. As usual, I agree with Joanne. According to the health experts (not the man on the street), there's a reason for the second dose. And there was no guarantee in this case that you would get it. And I applaud your queue-jumping reservations.

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    1. You are making me feel a bit better about my sudden choice Marty. Thanks.

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  17. My SIL was phoned by her nursing friend and offered leftover vaccine. She accepted. So would I if I had a chance. Meanwhile I look forward to maybe March for mine. Jumping the queue goes against the grain but I only have one life and it's been on hold for long enough.

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    1. Something like that last sentence should have been in my head when the call came Jean.

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  18. I think your concern about the second shot was a valid one, and since you're retired and have less contact with the public (and your wife has been vaccinated), then I think there are probably other people who needed it more than you.

    Just continue to be very careful, and I think you will be fine, YP. Surely a vaccine for us ALL is in the very near future anyway. And beating yourself up about a decision that had to be made so quickly without time to really consider is silly. Stop it! You are not a fool!

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    1. Thank you Auntie Jennifer. May I go to my room now?

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  19. Life is full of "what ifs". Weighing pros and cons and making a quick decision on the spot is never easy - and whichever way we go, we will never know for sure what exactly would have happened if we had chosen the other alternative.

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Mr Pudding welcomes all genuine comments - even those with which he disagrees. However, puerile or abusive comments from anonymous contributors will continue to be given the short shrift they deserve. Any spam comments that get through Google/Blogger defences will also be quickly deleted.

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